THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 21, 1995 TAG: 9508210023
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
Heeding the Old Testament injunction ``Justice, justice shalt thou follow,'' more than 100 friends and sympathizers of Betty Anne Smolka gathered Sunday to express outrage that a Florida court had reversed her husband's conviction for her 1991 murder.
``Our message to all Florida residents is: We've had our share of disasters and near-disasters; please help us avoid this one,'' Cathy Snyders, a friend of Betty Anne Smolka's, told the crowd outside Cox High School.
The speakers asked residents to write the Florida attorney general's office, demanding that it petition a higher court to review the case. Two weeks ago, a Florida appeals court reversed Tom Smolka's conviction for first-degree murder, saying the evidence against him was entirely circumstantial.
At the rally, participants teetered between disbelief at the unfathomable workings of the judicial system and hope that if people spoke loudly enough, they could help rebalance the scales of justice.
The event attracted not only relatives and friends, but also those with no connection to Betty Anne Smolka or her family. They came out of a fierce belief in Thomas Smolka's guilt and a determination to keep him in jail.
``This affects all of us,'' said Dana Gustafson of Virginia Beach. ``I don't pretend to be a student of law. But something's got to be done. This is definitely wrong. In my lifetime, I neverheard of such a thing.''
Many participants expressed exasperation over how the appeals court judges could overturn the verdict that a jury took just 14 hours to agree upon.
``I don't understand why you have a trial before a jury if you don't let the jurors decide the issue,'' said the Rev. Jerry Holcomb of Kings Grant Baptist Church, where Betty Anne Smolka's parents are members. ``That's frustrating for me.''
Another parishioner, Malcolm Simmons of Virginia Beach, agreed. ``I read something the other day: `Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it,' '' Simmons said. ``I think this should be the case with the jury. That's the system we accepted. That should be it.''
But Simmons also expressed faith that people can influence the justice system if they raise their voices.
``If enough of us get together,'' he said, ``we can change anything.''
Dorothy Davis of Virginia Beach, a member of Betty Anne Smolka's church, Church of the Holy Family, also was unwavering in her optimism: ``I think they're going to have to listen to the people. I do think we can make a difference.''
Betty Anne Smolka was shot to death in Ocala, Fla., in 1991. Prosecutors never uncovered physical evidence linking her husband, Tom Smolka, to her killing. But they painted a picture of a man in dire need of money who wished openly for his wife's death.
A week before her death, Smolka took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his wife. And a painter who had worked at their house overheard him saying, `` `She'll be dead. . . . Someday she'll be out of my life.' ''
In its ruling overturning Smolka's 1993 conviction, the appeals court wrote: ``The number of suspicious circumstances is especially troubling. But suspicions cannot be the basis of a criminal conviction.''
Yet Patricia Johnson of Virginia Beach, a friend of Betty Anne's, challenged the court's logic in a letter she wrote to Florida Attorney General Robert Butterworth. She read it at the rally Sunday afternoon:
Though the evidence was circumstantial, she said, ``the pieces of evidence together told a chilling story of a man who murdered his wife, the mother of his three children, in cold blood and without any provocation except greed. . reversal and disbelieving that the phrase `a jury of his peers' seems to have so little meaning in the judicial system anymore.''
Johnson said later that she wanted lawyers and judges to look beyond the cold facts to grasp the personal consequences of Betty Anne Smolka's murder - and of their own actions. ``I hope they realize this is not just some abstract reversal of law, but there are really some people involved. Her death really made a difference, and her life made a difference.''
And while the participants focused on the legal twists in the case, they, too, stopped to remember the person behind their crusade, Betty Anne Smolka, a giving mother and friend, an activist extraordinaire.
Maury Joy, a teacher at John Dey Elementary School, where Betty Anne Smolka was active in the PTA, read a poem about her written by former principal Rhonda Skaggs:
She was the one was always there, no credit would she claim
Behind the scenes, wind 'neath the wings, no star beside her name. . .
Energized by her dedication, she spread her goodness far
From church to school; hospital, too (wherever the children are!). . .
The chocoholic with the dimple, the ever-ready volunteer so speaker-shy
We'll all miss Betty Anne Smolka's smile reflected forever in our children's eyes. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photos by BETH BERGMAN/
Willis Stephenson, the father of Betty Anne Smolka, speaks at a
rally Sunday in Virginia Beach. More than 100 people gathered at Cox
High School to protest the overturned murder conviction in Florida
of Betty Anne's husband, Tom.
Willis and Betty Stephenson listen to a poem about their daughter,
Betty Anne Smolka.
KEYWORDS: MURDER APPEAL OVERTURNED CONVICTION SMOLKA by CNB